Sotomayor Hearings Begin

And they're off. The Sotomayor hearings are underway. Here's how Fox News shows Senator Orrin Hatch, which we consider a typical liberal media smear. Hatch brings up that President Obama did not support Republican judicial nominees when he was in the Senate, which gives us a hint of how things will go. Nonetheless he tells Sotomayor that he is proud of her and wishes her well. He even pronounces her name right.

Now Dianne Feinstein is gushing into the record about Sotomayor's 3,000 trials, which will seem a collective snap to her compared to this one.

Oops. Some protester started bellowing and has been swiftly removed. "We will have decorum," says Chairman Pat Leahy, and warns anyone else who wants to try him that he will sic the cops on them.

Update: Feinstein refers to previous Republican nominees who have played fast and loose with abortion law precedent, says with them "superprecedent has gone out the window," which is a charming image.